Justin Bieber Says Relationship With His Mom Is 'Pretty Nonexisting'

In a new interview with Billboard magazine, the 21-year-old "Sorry" singer admits that during the last two years, his connection with his mother, Pattie Mallette, has become "pretty nonexisting." He blames their deteriorating relationship on his headline-making bad boy behavior in the past, which includes a DUI arrest in Florida last January.

"I was distant because I was ashamed," he explains. "I never wanted my mom to be disappointed in me and I knew she was. We spent some time not talking, so it takes time to rebuild that trust."

"She’s living in Hawaii now, so it’s hard, but getting better," he says. "She’s an amazing woman and I love her.”

Mallette, who gave birth to Bieber when she was 17 years old, wrote a best-selling book about her struggles growing up -- 2012's Nowhere But Up. ET caught up with her in February 2013, when she admitted that she wasn't always a fan of her superstar son's life choices, particularly, his multiple tattoos.

"That's one of those things that I don't necessarily have to like," Mallette said, also acknowledging that her son is legally an adult. "He's going to make his own decisions."

Bieber, however, is notably close to his father, Jeremy Bieber, and says he wants to clear the misconception that Jeremy was a "deadbeat dad." But he does concede that Jeremy was "not in a place to raise a kid," when he was 18 years old.

"He was immature. He left for like a year when I was about 4, went to British Columbia, came back on Father’s Day," Bieber shares. "I remember my mom said, 'If you're going to be here, you have to be here.' There's a misconception that he's this deadbeat dad, but he has been in my life since. I was with him on weekends and Wednesdays."

Bieber recently found himself defending Jeremy, when the 40-year-old father of three caught a lot of flak for joking about the size of his son's manhood, after nude pictures of him taken in Bora Bora hit the Internet. Bieber responds to Bette Midler's headline-making diss about his dad in the new interview, after the 69-year-old legend tweeted last month, "@justinbieber dad tweeted he's proud of his son’s penis size. I think the biggest d**k in this situation is the dad who abandoned his son."

.@justinbieber dad tweeted he's proud of his son's penis size. I think the biggest dick in this situation is the dad who abandoned his son.

"This Britt Meddler, I don’t even know who that is, honestly," Bieber says, mangling her name. "I wanted to immediately say 'Who is this lady?,' but then I'm just fueling this negativity. I do feel the photo was an invasion of my privacy. I felt super violated. My dad made light of it, but I don't think that's sick and twisted. It was funny. Dads are going to be dads."

Though one lady he'll always love is his ex-girlfriend, 23-year-old Selena Gomez.

"I'm proud of the woman she is today," he says. "When you love someone that much, even if something comes between you, it's a love that never really dies."

Still, he can't bring himself to listen to her new album, Revival.

"I know I had a lot of play in that one," he explains. "I don't know what she's saying about me."

In April, Bieber admitted a lot of the music on his new album, Purpose, out Nov. 13, is also inspired by his intense relationship with Gomez. "I think a lot of my inspiration comes from [Selena]," he told Ryan Seacrest. "It was a long relationship that created heartbreak and created happiness and a lot of different emotions that I wanted to write about. There's a lot of that on this album."